Voting is one of the best ways to participate in the democratic process. Casting your informed ballot isn't difficult, but it does require a bit of preparation. It's important to know how to vote well before election day so you can make a real impact.

Steps

Part 1

Preparing to Vote

1

Find out if you're eligible to vote in the next election. It isn't just the Presidential election that matters — your area has smaller elections all the time. "Midterm" elections refers to the House of Congress and, as the name indicates, they come in the middle of the President's term. Here are the requirements you have to fulfill to be eligible:

You have to be a US citizen

You have to be a resident of the state you're voting in (each state has different residency requirements, so make sure that you meet them in advance)

You cannot be currently serving a prison term, on parole, or in another form of post-release supervision (though check with your local election board to be sure, since some states, such as Vermont or Maine, do not regulate felon voting)

If you're looking at the Presidential election, know that you may not have to be 18. Some states allow 17-year-olds (who will be 18 by election day) to vote in the primaries and caucuses.[1]

2

Find out if you're already registered. Visit Canivote.org[2] to figure out if you're already registered. Some states give you a form to register when you apply for your driver's license, so you might have registered without knowing it. If you're not, this site can hook you up with the registration form or you can access it directly at the Election Assistance Commission's website.[3] It's available in multiple languages, too!

Keep in mind that, even if you're already registered to vote, you will need to register again if you've changed your name, address, or if you'd like to officially change your political party affiliation.

3

Register to vote. If you have not yet registered to vote, then there are four main ways to do it, depending on your state. You can register online in certain states, send in a National Mail Voter Registration Form, register in person, or fill out an absentee ballot. The most important thing is that you're aware of your state's deadline for registration, which typically falls between 2-4 weeks before an election. You also need to make sure you have the appropriate personal information, such as your name and address, before you register.

Registration in person is easy and you can do it at any of the following locations: the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), election offices, your state's voter registration office, the Armed Service recruitment centers, public assistance facilities, or state-funded disabilities centers.

You can also register online if your state is one of the 20 states that allows it.[4] You can check this table to see whether or not you can vote online in your given state. If you can, then all you have to do is to visit the Federal Election Assistance Commission site to find your state's registration forms, right here.

You can also easily print, fill out, and mail in a National Mail Voter Registration Form. As long as you don't live in Wyoming, North Dakota, or the U.S. territories, then this option will work for you.

4

Learn where your polling place is. Your town probably has dozens. They can be almost anywhere — government buildings, offices, restaurants, and sometimes even citizens' houses. Once in a while, a certain area will let you vote anywhere, but most places require you to vote at your polling place. Make sure you know how to get there well before election day.

Vote411.org can inform you of your polling place.[5] Your state's election office website can do the same, too.

If you've recently registered, you should make sure to get confirmation of your registration at least a few weeks before it's time to vote. Check in with your state or local offices if you still haven't received word of your official registration.

Find out what you need to bring to the polling place. Each state has different requirements for what you need to bring for identification, whether it's a driver's license, voter registration card, or bank statements or bills with your name and address on them.

5

Obtain a sample ballot. This will let you know exactly who is running for which office, how many seats are open for the office, and how many votes you are entitled to cast for each office. It will also spell out any referendum or initiatives appearing before the voters.

If you're new to voting, it may be a good idea to familiarize yourself with your state's ballot. Each one is a bit different.

Mark your sample ballot according to your choices. This will help prevent confusion once you get to the voting booth and will allow you to cast your vote in the way you intend.

6

Educate yourself on the candidates and the issues. Read the newspapers and look for voters' guides which may be published by nonpartisan groups in your area. Listen to radio or TV candidate debates or attend a debate or a forum in person. In local elections, where coverage is limited, it can be very effective to pick up the telephone and speak to a candidate.

Use the internet! Entire websites are dedicated to outlining the candidates' platforms, helping you learn about their stances and whose beliefs are in line with yours.

Part 2

Voting On-Site

1

Go to your polling place. Obtain a ballot and follow any instructions you are given. Be prepared for a wait — if you go before or after normal working hours, you may have a line ahead of you. Bring a book or your iPod to kill time. You can also make friends with your fellow citizens while you're waiting.

Bring identification with you! It's best to have a driver's license or passport; however, some places will allow you to bring in a check stub or some sort of bill (again, check your state's policies).

Before you vote, you'll need to check in with the official volunteers so they can know who you are and can give you a sticker or another "reward" for voting. If you have any questions about the voting process, they would be happy to answer them.

2

Fill out the ballot as you wish. Then, turn your ballot into the appropriate person or feed it into the machine. There are four types of counting you may run into:

Optical Scan Paper Ballot Systems: These are similar to devices used for standardized testing as if voting were like a multiple choice test. Once the ovals are filled in or the arrows are connected, the ballot goes through an optical scanner which can record the markings as a vote. This is done either at the polling place itself or at some central location. If this is what you run into, harken back to your college days and fill in each bubble darkly and evenly; don't use Xs, dashes, slashes, or check marks.[6]

Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) Systems: This is a touchscreen computer that you walk up to record your vote; there is no paper. All the info is stored on a flash drive that is removed upon the poll's closing and sent to a central location by a police officer. Since touchscreens are foreign technology to some, instructions can't be missed. It's pretty simple, though; push the start button and you're off. If you wish to vote for a write-in candidate, there's a keyboard, too.[6]

Ballot Marking Devices: This method is reserved for disabled voters. It sort of combines the first two technologies into one — a touchscreen computer (that works well for the visual and hearing impaired) records the input information onto a physical ballot. It is then scanned or even hand-counted. New York City, believe it or not, still goes mano-a-mano with their ballots, old-fashioned as this tactic may seem.[6]

The Punch Card Ballot: If you were around for the 2000 election, you're familiar with this version — it was used in several counties in Florida and led to weeks of discrepancy. Since then, only four countries across all of the US have kept this methodology, so odds are you won't run into it. What once was prevalent in 30% of America has now been relegated to Bonneville, Clearwater, Franklin, and Shoshone counties — all in Idaho.[7][6]

3

Review your ballot. If you want to make sure you cast your vote correctly, you may want to spend a minute reviewing your choices and making sure that your ballot was cast successfully, whether you fed it into a machine or turned it in another way.

If anything does seem to be amiss, call over one of the poll workers — they'll be able to help.

Part 3

Absentee and Early Voting

1

Apply in writing to your city election commission. Include your name, address (as registered), ward and precinct if known, the address where you'd like your absentee ballot sent, and your signature. If you're voting in a primary, you'll also need to include the party for which you wish to vote.

The majority of states allow for in-person and postal voting when it comes to doing it early. Some states are only postal or in-person and some have no early voting at all. Check your state's policies to see if this is an option.[8]

2

Wait for your ballot to arrive. It should come with instructions and various return envelopes. However, if your state allows it, you can go cast your vote in-person before the election (depending on the state, it will be somewhere between 4 and 50 days prior to election day) to avoid the lines and hassle.

3

Fill out your ballot. Then, place it in the smaller brown envelope. Read and complete all information on the front of the envelope. Sign it when you're done.

Make sure all your choices are clearly marked — don't leave any room for interpretation. Follow the instructions on the ballot carefully.

4

Place the small envelope into the bigger envelope. Place the proper postage on it, and then mail it to your city/town hall. The address should be indicated somewhere on the form or envelope.

Alternatively, you or a family member can hand your ballot to your local election official. Once more, check with your state's policy.

It must be received by the closing time on the date of the election day unless you're voting internationally. In that case, it can be received no more than 10 days after the election, so long as it is postmarked on or before election day. [9]

Both local elections and general elections are important. Presidential elections tend to get the most attention, and it is extremely important to vote in those. But if you want the president to be able to get things done, it's also very important to vote for the right congressional representatives, both during the general election and during midterms. You can also vote for various state and local officials on the same ballot - educate yourself on and vote for as many of these as you can, as they can greatly affect how your state and city are run.

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Tips

Do not feel obligated to cast a vote in every part of the ballot. If you have not been able to inform yourself on a confusing issue or race, your best option may be to leave that part of the ballot blank.

Try not to restrict yourself to reading candidate materials you receive in the mail. Candidate publications tend to be biased and will not give you the complete picture you will need to make an informed vote. You might also look on the internet for current legislative issues and votes.

Warnings

If your jurisdiction has Internet election information, you can probably find your own voting history online. This means your neighbors, too, will be able to check whether you are a committed citizen by popping in to take a peek at your voting record for the past decade or so. So if you want people to think highly of you, be sure to vote.